Young men's love lies not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes
by Lilly1999
Summary: "Love can sometimes be magic. But magic can sometimes be... just an illusion." What if there was no magical poison? What if Juliet had to take the ultimate choice? What if it was all an illusion? Alternative ending to Romeo & Juliet by William Shakspeare.


" _Tell me not, Friar, that thou hear'st of this,_

 _Unless thou tell me how I may prevent it."_

Friar Lawrence looked at the frantic girl before him. Yes, he had heard of the ill-fated life that Juliet's parents had decided for her. It was a life of bigamy, in sin. For that and for how she looked right now, he felt pity for her. It wasn't hard to conclude that Juliet hadn't slept the night before. The dark circles under her eyes, the puffy from crying cheeks and uncombed hair only contributed to the look of plain desperation, written on her face. And even though she was desperate, she still looked so young and naïve, just like the day he married her to her beloved Romeo. At this moment, Friar Lawrence realized that he had put all his hopes for peace on two children, who were unable to carry their weight and now they were paying the price for it.

"There may be a way to save you from life in sin, daughter." Friar Lawrence finally responded "But you must understand, at this point there is nothing I can think of that will reunite you with your husband." The Friar was careful with his words, not wanting to add to neither the hope nor the desperation Juliet was feeling.

"Don't speak like that, father, please." Juliet wailed "There must be something, anything, to save me from this unfortunate marriage to a man I neither love nor want to see ever again in my life."

"If you are ready to give up on your marriage to the gentle Romeo," the Friar started, an idea already forming in his mind. "If you are ready to seek redemption for going against your parent's wishes because of your deep, but impossible love for your loathed enemy, then I may have a solution, a glimpse of hope, which can save you from a life in purgatory." He approached his desk and sat down, taking the feather in his hand and scratching a few blurred words on the old parchment. "Take this letter to abbess of the _San Zenone_ nunnery, the one who accepted Rosaline in her holy family merely days ago. This letter testifies your deep regret and desire for redemption as reasons for me to humbly ask him to accept you into this holy place as a servant of God." Friar Lawrence handed the letter to the weeping girl. Juliet hesitated before taking the letter, million thoughts going through her head. " _Is this the only solution? Should I accept my fate to be separated from my beloved? Should I just end my life because a life without Romeo is not a life? And yet, the Bible says that's a sin to take away a gift from God and life is certainly a gift. Does this mean there will not be peace for me? Will I be condemned to an eternity in purgatory? No, a life without Romeo is unbearable but an eternity without him is fatal. I shall work hard to win my place back into God's heart and into heaven, where I would wait for my dear husband. If we can't find our happiness in this life, then we will in the next."_ Juliet finally nodded, indicating that she had made her decision and accepted the letter that he was handing her. Soon she disappeared into the night, heading towards the nunnery, convinced that the only thing that she can do now, is dedicate her sinful life to God and hope that He will gift her with redemption.

The noon of the third day of his exile, found Romeo on the town square of Mantua, enjoying the shining sun and daydreaming about the wife he left back in Verona. He was awaiting a message from the Friar, telling him that their marriage is publicly announced, the dispute between their families long forgotten, and that the prince had granted him pardon, allowing him to return home. Unfortunately, until that day, no such letter had arrived, leaving poor Romeo's hopes unfulfilled. This, as well as the absence of his best friends, Mercutio and Benvolio, contributed to him being constantly moody or depressed. In addition he had a lot of free time to contemplate his life and the mistakes which he had made, which was driving him crazy. So on this sunny Thursday morning, he felt completely ecstatic when he noticed a messenger with the colors of Verona, running right towards him. He almost tore apart the envelope with the Friar's seal, ready to run back home and pack his things so he could go back to his sweet Juliet.

Romeo's face became a perfect picture of the rainbow while reading the letter. Starting with the ordinary pink of skin it turned to red, then lilac, then a little green before settling for white, the color of death. And truly, if he wasn't standing still in the middle of the town square, the citizens of Mantua would easily mistake his extremely pale face for that of a dead man. It seemed that he was in some kind of trance, so lost in his thoughts that the messenger had to shake him more than three times before bringing him back to reality. Even then, he barely looked at the discarded visitor, running instead towards his abode.

…..

Three days later:

Three days had passed since Romeo, the only heir of the ancient household Montague had returned to Verona and begged pardon from the prince. Three days after, he and the whole town along with him, learned that his gentle wife preferred to seek redemption for their sins and decided to retire to a nunnery, giving up on their love and on him. Three days, in which everyone avoided him, afraid of what he could do if they provoked his anger. What had happened with Tybalt a week ago still wasn't forgotten by the citizens, especially the ones who favored the Capulets.

Romeo, on other side, liked to pretend that nothing had happened. He decided to erase this secret period of his life, which at this point had become publicly known. There was no single gossip who didn't feel the need to inform all of his neighbors how the Capulet heiress was enchanted by the magic of her mortal enemy, the only son of old Montague, and was lured to elope with him. Poor girl had only woken from the spell when her "beloved" killed her dear innocent cousin. Juliet, shaken from the sins she had committed, found comfort in the arms of God, devoting her life to him.

This was all rubbish, if you asked Romeo. There was no spell but that of love and Juliet responded to his vows just as frankly and passionately as he had spoken them. Now, she was turning her back on him and with that breaking his heart. Considering this situation, he didn't see anything wrong in quarreling with every Capulet he saw. God knows how many times he would get into a physical fight with them if Benvolio wasn't there to stop him. Benvolio, who was the only friend he had left and who stood angry in front of him at that exact moment.

"Are you in your right mind, Romeo? How many more times will you do this? You want to be sent into exile again or what?" Benvolio was rambling, hoping to give his friend a piece of mind.

"I don't know what you mean, Benvolio," Romeo denied, refusing to hear the truth in his cousin's words. "I was just letting the Capulets know how ridiculous they looked in their new clothing." He shrugged. Frankly, he couldn't care less what the Capulets thought of him. Not anymore at least.

"Romeo, you will get into trouble again. Don't you remember Mercutio's unfortunate fate? Do you want to end the same way? Romeo, Romeo.. Are you even listening to me?"

" _What lady is that which doth enrich the hand of yonder knight_?" Romeo said instead of answering the question and pointed towards the corner of the square.

"I don't know" responded Benvolio dismissingly "But don't focus on that. We need to talk about how you're dealing with the loss of Juliet. You're behavior towards the Capulets is…"

"Juliet? Juliet who? Look at this fair lady right on the other side of the fountain. _Oh, she doth teach the torches to burn bright. It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night, like a rich jewel in an Ethiope's ear, beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear. Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight! For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night."_

 **A/N The beginning and ending of the piece (the words in Italic) are part of the original tragedy** _ **Romeo and Juliet**_ **by Shakespeare. They are used for better delivery of the message of the piece and are not claimed to be my own.**


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